1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an automobile rear seat assembly and, more particularly, to the facilitation of installation of the rear seat assembly within a passenger's compartment of an automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Laid-open Utility Model Publication No. 60-89044, published June 18, 1985, discloses an automobile seat comprised of two separate seat assemblies juxtaposed with each other and adapted to be moved by a common drive motor independently of each other in a direction parallel to the longitudinal sense of the automobile. More specifically, each of the seat assemblies disclosed therein comprises a seat cushion and a seat back hinged to the seat cushion so as to assume a generally L-shaped configuration. Each seat assembly is mounted on an automobile floor panel inside the passenger's compartment through a pair of telescopically movable rail assemblies. Each of the rail assemblies comprises a carriage frame rigidly secured to the bottom of the seat cushion, and a rail slidably received in the carriage frame for movement lengthwise of and relative to the carriage frame and rigidly mounted on the floor panel.
Each of the carriage frames has a screw shaft rigidly connected at its opposite ends thereto so as to extend parallel thereto, said screw shaft having a nut member mounted thereon for movement axially of and relative to the screw shaft. The nut members on the respective screw shafts associated with one seat and the nut members on the respective screw shafts associated with the next adjacent seat are operatively coupled together with respective drive shafts which are adapted to be selectively engaged with the common drive motor.
For selectively engaging the drive shafts with the drive motor, use has been made of a solenoid-operated gear assembly.
Japanese Laid-open Utility Model Publication No. 60-125230, published Aug. 23, 1985, discloses a similar seat slide mechanism using a drive motor for each seat assembly. The drive motor used to move the seat assembly in a direction parallel to the longitudinal sense of the automobile is built in the seat cushion and, therefore, in this prior art reference, the screw shafts having the respective nut members movably mounted thereon are carried by the respective rails.
The seat slide mechanism disclosed in each of these prior art references is satisfactory in the sense that the position of the seat assembly relative to the steering wheel where the seat assembly in question is a front seat assembly, or relative to the front seat where the seat assembly in question is a rear seat assembly, can be adjusted in a sophisticated manner.
However, it has been found that difficulties are involved in installing the seat assembly on the floor panel inside the passenger's compartment. As is well known to those skilled in the art, the juxtaposed carriage frames are in practice secured to the bottom of the seat cushion through a generally square carrier frame. When it comes to the installation of the seat assembly on the floor panel, it is a general notion that the optimum working efficiency can be attained if the seat assembly in the form wherein the seat cushion and the seat back are hingedly connected together is carried into the passenger's compartment for installation on the floor panel.
However, the seat cushion and the seat back are bulky because of the employment of respectively foamed cushioning materials, with or without cushioning springs, which are necessitated to make the seat assembly as a whole comfortable to sit on. Therefore, when the seat back is folded against the seat cushion in readiness for the loading of the seat assembly into the passenger's compartment through the nearest door opening in the automobile body structure, it often happens that a rear end of a seat cushion interferes with a lower end of the seat back being then folded to such an extent that the seat assembly with the seat back in a folded position may not be loaded into the passenger's compartment without substantial difficulty. This is particularly true where the door opening in the automobile body structure is relatively small.
In view of the foregoing, it is a general practice to load the seat back, in the form as hinged to the carrier frame, into the passenger's compartment and then to secure the seat cushion to the carrier frame after the carrier frame has been mounted through the juxtaposed carriage frames on the respective rails rigid with the floor panel. Considering the automobile assembly line in which automobile body structures are successively conveyed onto a seat installing station, the separate loading of the seat back and the seat cushion poses a problem in that the work time at that work station tends to be prolonged because of the complicated and time-consuming procedures.